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Thank you. Welcome to the big thing on total soccer show, the show where we dig into one of the meteor topics of the beautiful game.

Today, we focus our attention on a nation that's marked its intention to become a global force in soccer, Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi Pro League has been running for 48 years, but has gained attention in recent seasons with its capital

outlay on some of the biggest names in soccer. At the start of the year, Al Nasser signed

Cristiano Ronaldo, offering him a salary worth 200 million euros per year. This summer, Saudi

clubs have brought in Kareemez, Rubin Nevesz, and countless other players who may have previously selected an elite European club.

On today's show, we're looking at the move Saudi clubs have been making the source of their funding, the role the legal play in the soccer landscape, and much, much, much more.

My name is Ryan Bailey, joining me to have that discussion. Taylor Rockwell, hello, Taylor. Hello. Joe Lowry, hello, Joe. Hello, Ryan. Taking a sip of water just as I asked him his name. Graham Rutherford, hello Graham. Hello, Ryan. How are you? I made a calculator bet to completely derail the show from the beginning that you were going to go to Graham second and me third and I was wrong and I looked like a fool so I deserve that. It was a 50-50 you tossed a coin there Joe, you lost out. I really did. Here we go, I'm not cutting this out. All right, so Taylor, what's your overarching opinion on the Saudi Pro League? You know, by many accounts, a

serious league, it's been going nearly half a decade. It's got ProREL, they've got a whole system

there, and they've made some big investments in recent years. Yes, and that's all we need to know

when we're talking about Saudi Arabia. It makes me uncomfortable. I think if I'm going to be

candid and honest up front,

one of the best quotes I've ever heard about Saudi Arabia, this is the nation where tradition

and modernity are in violent collision. And that feels sort of like a good foundation for where

I'm coming from with this, which is that we understand Saudi Arabia's history, their traditions,

the importance of Mecca and Medina and

religion and how it's an all-encompassing thing. And so then to have the amount of money that's

...